hello florence: I just love Thursdays...

The rules are simple. Wander the city with no map.

Every Thursday is an adventure here in Florence. It's the first day of my weekend and the only day I get to truly just wander around the city aimlessly hoping to stumble upon something..anything.

And, today was that day--the weather wasn't too shabby either!

My day began with a short devotional, an incredible workout and a bowl of Special K cereal with a sliced banana (My day could have ended there and I would have been happy).

I took a quick shower to wash off and headed out to find a "paper" store, which I had stumbled upon last night on my way to a bar called 21 for my roommate's 21st birthday--how fitting.

If you don't know this all ready, "little" and "knick knack" is my middle name. Ask anyone, especially my mom or Will, and you will come to find out that I collect anything "mini sized" and I simply can't resist buying cool notebooks (especially if they are mini).

After several wrong turns, which happens more often than not, I finally found what I was looking for.

Fabriano Boutique.

I absolutely fell in love with this place. I would buy the entire store if I could. They sold more notebooks and drawing pads than I could count as well as pens and color pencils. Their journals were as cute as they could be and my favorite had to be the one that said, "I write better than Dante."

I just couldn't resist and purchased an Italian made card that simply says, "With Love." I plan to frame it when I get home to remind me of my time in Florence.

I also purchased a pair of mismatched earrings from a cute cute boutique across the street.